Liverpool South Parkway for Liverpool John Lennon Airport
General information
Location	Garston,Liverpool England
Coordinates	53°21′28″N2°53′23″W / 53.3577°N 2.8897°W /53.3577; -2.8897
Grid reference	SJ408849
Managed by	Merseyrail
Transit authority	Merseytravel
Platforms	6
Other information
Station code	LPY
Fare zone	C1/C2
Classification	DfT category B
Key dates
11 June 2006	Opened
Passengers
2020/21	0.574 million
Interchange	0.254 million
2021/22	1.460 million
Interchange	0.856 million
2022/23	1.813 million
Interchange	0.141 million
2023/24	2.018 million
Interchange	0.206 million
2024/25	2.164 million
Interchange	0.232 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Liverpool South Parkway station is a railway station and bus interchange in theGarston district ofLiverpool, England. It serves, via a bus link,Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the neighbouring suburb of Speke, as well as providing an interchange between main line services and theMerseyrailrapid transit/commuter rail network. Opened in 2006 on the site of the formerAllerton railway station, it also replaced the nearbyGarston station.

The station is located towards the southern end ofMerseyrail'sNorthern Line and on the junction of two main lines: theMerseytravel City Line from Liverpool toManchester viaWarrington and the Liverpool branch of theWest Coast Main Line toLondon viaCrewe.

The station was built at a crossing point between two railway lines that had until then been served by separate stations. The first was theCheshire Lines Committee (CLC) line fromLiverpool Central to Manchester viaWarrington Central, which ran from west to east. The second was the line built by theSt Helens Railway fromLiverpool Lime Street toWarrington Bank Quay, which crossed from northwest to southeast. The latter route became part of the Liverpool branch of theWest Coast Main Line in 1868 when it was connected to a new route fromCrewe via the then-newRuncorn Railway Bridge. The original line to Warrington Bank Quay is now closed to passenger trains. The two lines were served by two separate stations in the area, respectivelyGarston andAllerton (though the latter was also located in Garston).

The first proposals for an interchange station at Garston were made in the 1960s and 1970s, when theMerseyrail semi-underground network was being planned. At the time, the suggestion was that the new station andBroad Green would be interchanges between long-distance trains and trains on an outer orbital line (theNorth Liverpool Extension Line).^[1] However, the latter line closed in 1972.^[2] The line from Liverpool Central to Garston was also closed in 1972, with trains on the CLC route being diverted to Liverpool Lime Street. The route from Liverpool Central to Garston was reopened in 1978 as part of theMerseyrailNorthern Line. After 1983, this route was extended toHunts Cross, the next station to the east.

As the orbital route had been closed, the impetus to eventually complete the station was to improve public transport access to the expandingLiverpool John Lennon Airport, and also to provide new journey opportunities for rail passengers in south Liverpool by giving easy interchange between Northern Line, City Line and West Coast Main Line services.

Construction began in 2004. Allerton station closed in July 2005 and the new station was built on its site. The concourse, bus station and car park were built on land that was once the home ofSouth Liverpool F.C. An information board situated on the footpath towards the main road explains the history of the site. The station opened on 11 June 2006, the day after Garston station closed.

At the time of opening, the Merseytravel City Line service (which had been hourly at the former Allerton station) was increased to half-hourly. The station also became an additional stop on the Liverpool-Birmingham service (then operated byCentral Trains). From 11 December 2006, the Monday-Saturday evening service on the Northern Line was increased to run every 15 minutes, instead of half-hourly as previously.

Initially, many long-distance services omitted Liverpool South Parkway from their timetables, however more train services were gradually introduced. In December 2008 the Birmingham service was doubled in frequency,^[3] andEast Midlands Trains services began calling at the station.^[4]

In December 2010 a further service was introduced, whenFirst TransPennine Express services added the station as an extra stop on their services from Liverpool toYork andScarborough.

In May 2011,Blackpool North services which operated fromLime Street were extended to start and terminate at Liverpool South Parkway. The service is operated byNorthern Trains and does not call at stations between South Parkway and Lime Street. The service from Lime Street is unchanged. Trains travelling from Blackpool North to Liverpool South Parkway have a 15-minute dwelling time at Liverpool Lime Street.

In early 2017 Liverpool South Parkway served as a temporary hub for national trains whilst Lime Street was closed due to a landslide.^[5] In September, platform 4 was temporarily extended by 150 m (490 ft) to allow intercity services to serve the station whilst Lime Street station was shut for refurbishment work.^[6] In mid-2018 the station again acted as a hub whilst Lime Street was upgraded.^[7]

Originally scheduled to open in December 2005, the project fell behind schedule, and finally opened on 11 June 2006. The construction cost, originally estimated to be £16 million, had doubled to £32 million by the time construction was completed.Merseytravel rejected criticism of the delays and cost increase, stating that it had been caused by factors beyond its control, such as the collapse ofRailtrack, increasing steel costs and poor weather causing flooding at the construction site.^[8]

Tom Wileman, regional director of bus operatorStagecoach, described Liverpool South Parkway as a "white elephant".^[9] However, from 28 September 2008, Stagecoach service 82 was rerouted to serve the station;^[10] and, from December 2008, trains operated by Stagecoach-ownedEast Midlands Trains began calling.

v t e Railways around Liverpool South Parkway
Legend
toLiverpool Central toLiverpool Lime Street Cressington West Allerton Garston Platforms 5–6 Platforms 1–4 Bridge over Mersey Hunts Cross Runcorn toCrewe toWarrington Central

The station has six platforms (four high-level platforms on the West Coast Main Line and a further two on the Northern Line, a bus station for local bus services, taxi rank, car park, bicycle storage, café and passenger lounge.

The station has been designed to useenvironmentally friendly techniques wherever possible. Some of the building's electricity is provided byphotovoltaic cells. A 700,000-litre (150,000-imperial-gallon; 180,000-US-gallon) rainwater harvesting system has also been installed to reduce the use of mains water. This water will be used for cleaning and washing, as well as toilet flushes. All timber used has been certified by theForest Stewardship Council as being from a well-managed forest. The roof is made from recycled aluminium instead of virgin materials.^[11] The automatic doors at each of the five bus stances open only when a bus arrives, enhancing safety but also retaining heat within the building and avoiding excessive openings of the doors. The free-access main entrance uses a revolving door to avoid draughts.

In August 2006, Liverpool South Parkway won the Innovation Award atNetwork Rail's annual Environment Awards.^[12]

In June 2009, the station underwent some enhancements,^{[citation needed]} and saw the introduction of a new travel centre and a heated passenger lounge withWi-Fi internet access, comfortable chairs and free newspapers, adjacent to the café; ticket barriers at both ends of the concourse were also installed.

A ticket vending machine, allowing collection of tickets booked online, was installed in July 2014.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2016, an MtoGo shop was opened, selling a range of snacks and drinks alongside tickets.^[13] This replaced the former travel centre, which was converted into aCosta Coffee outlet in the summer of 2017.

• Merseyrail – There are trains every 15 minutes on Monday-Saturday towardsHunts Cross andOrmskirk viaLiverpool Central^[14]
• TransPennine Express – There is an hourly service toLiverpool Lime Street, as well as an hourly service toCleethorpes via Manchester, Sheffield and Doncaster.
• Northern Trains – There is an hourly semi-fast service to Manchester Oxford Road, as well as an hourly service toWarrington Central. There are 2 services per hour towards Liverpool Lime Street.
• East Midlands Railway – service from Liverpool toNottingham andNorwich via Sheffield serves the station hourly.
• London Northwestern Railway– services between Liverpool Lime Street andBirmingham New Street call at Liverpool South Parkway. The service generally runs half-hourly from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays the service runs hourly.^[15]
• Transport for Wales – services between Liverpool Lime Street and Chester serve the station hourly, with a single early evening service extended toWrexham General.
• Avanti West Coast – services call once an hour between Liverpool Lime Street andLondon Euston from Monday to Saturday.^[16]
• Bus services – run from the station toLiverpool John Lennon Airport,Aigburth,Dingle,Mossley Hill,Penny Lane,Liverpool City Centre,Belle Vale. Services are operated byArriva North West andStagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire. Passengers can use local services 80A and 86A for transfer to/from the airport.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Cressington towardsOrmskirk		Merseyrail Northern Line		Hunts Cross Terminus
Liverpool Lime Street		TransPennine Express South TransPennine		Warrington Central
				Warrington West
Liverpool Lime Street		Northern Trains Liverpool to Manchester Line		Warrington West
West Allerton				Hunts Cross
Mossley Hill towardsLiverpool Lime Street		London Northwestern Railway Birmingham–Liverpool		Runcorn towardsBirmingham New Street
Liverpool Lime Street		East Midlands Railway Liverpool - Norwich		Widnes
				Hunts Cross
Liverpool Lime Street		Transport for Wales Liverpool - Chester		Runcorn
Liverpool Lime Street		Avanti West Coast Liverpool - London		Runcorn

From 23 May 2011,Northern Rail introduced direct services toBlackpool North. This was achieved by extending the existing Blackpool to Liverpool service. Trains ran non-stop from Liverpool South Parkway to Liverpool Lime Street, where they reversed to continue their journey to Blackpool. Seven trains operated Monday-Saturday, all outside the peaks with no direct evening or Sunday service.^[17][18] This service ceased to serve South Parkway in May 2018, reverting to operate between Liverpool Lime Street and Blackpool North only.

TransPennine Express served the station on itsScarborough services until 2018. This service was replaced with a service byNorthern to Manchester Airport, but has since been replaced again by a new service toCleethorpes by TPE, thus restoring services to the station.

During theLime Street remodelling, platform 4 at South Parkway, was temporarily extended to permit services operated by Virgin Trains to use the station while Lime Street was closed for major engineering works in autumn 2017 and summer 2018.^[19]

A shuttle bus formerly provided a link to theNational Trust's property atSpeke Hall, running weekends and bank holidays between April and September.^[20]

Merseytravel have stated that they aim to work with the train operators to improve the train service at Liverpool South Parkway, introducing new services with each twice-yearly timetable change.

Other new services which have been proposed but not confirmed are:

• Additional shuttle services between Liverpool South Parkway andLiverpool Lime Street on the City Line^{[citation needed]}
• More frequent Sunday services on the Northern Line^{[citation needed]}

Proposals forHigh Speed 2 raise the possibility of London trains calling at Liverpool South Parkway. This could be as part of the new high speed service to Liverpool or as part of a revised stopping pattern on the existing West Coast Main Line service.^[21]

In August 2009, it was reported that a new tram-train link toLiverpool John Lennon Airport and a link to Kings Dock from the east of the city had been proposed.^[22] At Liverpool South Parkway, the tram-train would leave the existing railway line and seamlessly transfer to a new tramway. This project was referenced again in November 2016 in Merseytravel's Rail Development and Delivery presentation as a "top rail project".^[23] During the presentation, Merseytravel's Senior Head of Service Operations revealed that there were no immediate plans to develop the rail link and its feasibility depended on the airport's passenger numbers increasing.^[24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLiverpool South Parkway railway station.

• Station information for Liverpool South Parkway railway station from Merseyrail

• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2006
• Railway stations opened by Network Rail
• Railway stations in Liverpool
• DfT Category B stations
• Airport railway stations in the United Kingdom
• Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway
• Railway stations served by Merseyrail
• Railway stations served by Northern
• Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains
• Redevelopment projects in Liverpool
• Bus stations in Merseyside
• Railway stations served by Transport for Wales Rail
• Stations on the West Coast Main Line
• Railway stations served by TransPennine Express
• Railway stations served by Avanti West Coast

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